Finding Freedom in a Ghost Town
by Becca-VON-infiniti
Summary: Who we were at this very moment, I'd like to think, was who we were meant to be. In another life; I would have loved this boy. I would have fallen so deeply in love with him and I would have been completely and undoubtedly happy. (ONE SHOT/ TRUNKS and 18)


**A/N: **This is a ONE-SHOT fanfiction story about Trunks and Android Eighteen. I love writing about those two because I really think they would have made a great couple in the series, well as long as Seventeen and the rest of the Z warriors weren't around to object to it! Well here we go; reviews are AWESOME so take time to write one if you enjoyed the story, thanks! –Becca

**Finding Freedom in a Ghost Town**

It was a ghost town; an utterly silent land of debris and ash. I forget the name of this place; my brother and I wiped it from the map more than five years ago. I couldn't tell you the reason why we chose this town to destroy first; mainly because we never had a reason to give. Humans built this city with hope and we forced it to the ground with ease. They built; we destroyed…that was life.

Life had continued in that pattern for so long now, I had started to lose interest. Mocking human life, spiting on the ground their worthless lives tread on and taking them done one by one for sport had become irrelevant to me. Everything had become irrelevant to me. There had to be more to it than this; there just had to be something else out there waiting for me to experience.

My brother found my thoughts to be preposterous; an inconceivable notion that I should not be wasting time and energy on. He loved this life; he loved standing in the middle of a city engulfed in flames set ablaze by our own hands. If there was a favorite song to be heard by my brother, it would be the echoes of screams from fearful humans beneath his heel. This life was all he could have dreamed of and from the looks of this damaged world beyond the horizon; he had everything had ever wanted.

I loved my brother; though we had not known each other before Dr. Gero had lured us into participating in his experiments. I often wondered what he was like before the great mind of the future ripped away as much of his humanity as he could get his bony little fingers on. He was so handsome my brother; he had a slight curl to his lips that could sway even my stubborn intentions.

I could barely recall my life as a human; I had exhausted so much effort into trying to remember who I was…I'd like to think I was better than who I had become. I enjoyed thinking that someone out there knew me before; and would leave a lasting memory of the girl I once was. Maybe they would say they remember a time when I would smile, laugh and carry on like any other girl they knew. Perhaps they would try to overlook the things I had done and cling to the thought of who I used to be.

If only they knew what I endured in that laboratory; if they just knew how this young girl was taken and…mutilated all in the name of science; maybe they wouldn't beg for my demise or pray for someone to finally rid the world of my existence. That process I withstood…the merging of technology and life…I could recall crystal clear.

Those days spent sprawled out upon a slab of steel would forever haunt my waking dreams. I was tortured; I don't care what progress to science or milestone to technology I was…the fact is I was tortured. Day after day I was poked, prodded and forced to watch as my own beautiful body was cut and forged into the mechanical being I am today. I could remember seeing only red as my own blood spilled as the doctor would try to mask all sense of my human life in steel.

My brother would say that we were chosen for that; we were lucky to have every scar and every memory of that process of perfection. I just remember wishing that Dr. Gero had chosen someone else…I never wanted to be perfect. I just wanted to be normal.

I leaned back against the remaining brick wall of the building I was propped against and I released a sigh; I truly hated having time to myself because my mind would always wander. I tucked a few stray blonde hairs behind my ears as the wind kept blowing them free to dance across my features. God how I hated being left to my thoughts; but I suppose it was better than accompanying my brother in his attempt to find a few teenagers that had the nerve to look him in the eye.

Suddenly my thoughts were broken by the sound of footsteps walking intensely towards me. Perhaps another freedom fighter wanting to preach their word of how I was the devil in disguise. How I loathed hearing those humans explain to me exactly why I was an abomination; a parasite to this planet; I was no devil or parasite…I may be scary in their eyes but I was still just a woman. A powerful woman who was surprisingly ready for the day someone could stop me. They call it my judgment day…I call it, the day I would finally be free.

The footsteps drew closer; but I did nothing to avoid or pursue my onlooker. I was exhausted…thought my monitors say my power level was at maximum capacity, I felt drained.

I looked up at the sky, the day still trying desperately to remain visible as night battles for dominion in the heavens above.

The footsteps finally faded from my senses; I guess the poor creature knew what was good for them and went back into hiding.

I rolled my head to the side until I felt a strong fist drive hard into my jaw. I scrambled to my feet and wiped the pouring blood from my newly busted lip. I shot my gaze up to see earth's last line of defense, their golden boy for justice.

"Trunks…how good of you to come and ruin a perfectly good night." I spat while brushing the dust from my clothing. I examined the enraged young man before me; he was wearing sweat pants and a white tank…his sword thankfully missing from his side. He must not have planned on a fight tonight; and from the looks of the flicker of uncertainty gracing his features he was already regretting his hasty decision to face me today.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done….today you are going to pay!" he roared; well I have heard that one before. I couldn't quite understand this young man; he was a play toy for my brother and I through the years. I had grown fond of the lavender haired hero; I secretly enjoyed watching him grow into the strikingly handsome young man now glaring at me.

"Don't bore me with your speeches today kid; I'm not in the mood." I breathed; I then felt the air grow thick with his rising power level. Oh my, I must have struck a nerve sooner than expected.

I curled my lips into a smirk as I watch the young man's muscles tense as his hair slowly began to rise into the air. Golden flames quickly appeared and began crackling and dancing wildly around his body. His hair shifted to the infamous golden hue as he charged towards me in a fit of rage.

Punches, kicks and sloppy energy blasts quickly erupted as we fought. We were rather evenly matched; each battle he managed to escape from made him slightly stronger. Never enough to become a threat worth taking seriously, but it was still something to pass the time.

He must have noticed my disinterest and began to increase the speed of his attacks to the point I was starting to feel a few of them connecting with my body. I wrinkled my brow and tried to maintain a steady rhythm of defense until I felt a strong knee drive hard into my stomach followed by a strong kick that sent me crashing into the rumble scattered about the ground.

"Woah, now that was a bit uncalled for don't you think? Believe it or not I haven't done anything to deserve this today." I said trying to peel my limbs from the broken concrete that I crashed upon.

"Deserve? You deserve to be tortured, beaten and killed like the demon you are!" He roared. I clenched my teeth…his words were starting to cut as deep as his sword.

"You know nothing of torture." I spat as I stood.

"Oh no? How about watching you and your brother kill every person I've ever loved or looked up to right before my eyes? Or seeing you reduce this beautiful planet into a shadow of death and destruction? Or how about seeing my own mother afraid to even stand in front of the window in the fear she will be face to face with her husband's killers? That…is torture." I was astonished; his emotions were spilling from his lips right in front of me. I was confused; he had always talked a big game throughout our battles but never had he gone to this extent.

"I can't do it anymore! I can't live like this anymore! It's you or me this time!" He roared, his voice booming like thunder as he charged at me once again. His movements were so fast they were quickly becoming a blur for even my heightened senses to follow. I suppose he had finally snapped. My brother and I knew this would happen; sayains had such things in their nature that would allow their anger to push them to their breaking point. Unfortunately I was alone to face him at the moment…and if I knew Seventeen, he wouldn't stop playing his cat and mouse game until his point was made.

I was dizzy from the speed of Trunks' attacks as I felt our battle take to the air. I swung my fist hard into his cheek only to watch as he slammed his head into my face; a few sensors began indicating the damage I had inflicted by the mighty head-butt. My nose was busted and began causing my eyes to water as blood began to travel down my lips and chin. My watered eyes couldn't see my opponent's moves as clearly as I felt a strong fist embed itself into my chest with a piercing sound.

My eyes shot open as our movements came to a stop; I looked down as Trunks retracted his fist from the gaping hole left by his rage. I coughed slightly as I felt pain begin to travel throughout my body. He did it; he found the one spot that was weakened by the placement of a thinner piece of steel protecting my human heart still beating as it had since the beginning of my life.

I felt my breath catch painfully in my throat as I looked up at Trunks…expecting to see his father's victory smirk shinning towards his accomplishment…I was shocked to see the same confusion in the shift of events that I must have appeared to have.

"A heart? You have a heart?" He whispered as I felt my limbs becoming numb; it felt as if a winter frost was creeping over my body. My scanners and sensors were screaming within my head; critical blow it screamed, in need of repair it continued. I tried to take in a breath only to feel pain clawing its way through my veins.

I couldn't believe it; this…had never happened to me before.

I felt myself descending from the air until I felt my body collide with the ground below. I felt my mouth filling with blood as I felt my gaping chest wound slowly forcing blood and various hues of liquid from broken fragments and torn wires into pools beneath me. I reached out my hand and tried to move myself but I remained frozen, bleeding and nearing a process I was never instructed how to handle: shut down.

My hands were shaking; one hand extended out while the other protectively covered my wound that seemed to burn with every breeze that passed me by. I felt my eyes allowing tears of fear and confusion roll down my cheeks. My thoughts were erratic and I couldn't find any course of action that could possibly keep me from reaching the shut down process.

"S-Seventeen…" I strained to scream as my jolts of pain caused me to silence my attempts to cry for help to the only person I thought could save me now. I should have gone with him…I never should have stayed here.

I heard Trunks reach the ground as he approached me; I struggled to look upon the man who finally put an end to my reign. I finally laid eyes upon him to watch as he crouched beside me; I was sickened at the feeling of being looked upon like some injured animal.

"P-please…" I struggled but could barely find the energy to speak as I continued to fight my body from shutting down. I wanted to tell him to stop looking at me like that, to leave…he had won and I'd be dead within the hour if not before.

His blue eyes continued to examine me as I lifted my arm and said what my words could not; I shoved him aside only to have him capture my wrist and gently lay it back down next to me.

"You…look almost human." He said softly.

"I…am." I strained as I allowed my face to press firmly into the dirt; I didn't have the energy to even raise my head to face my demise head on. I was afraid to die…and it pained me to think of how words would fuel my story; the android terror was finally defeated. Would they parade my body around in excitement through the streets of the few remaining cities around?

I continued to cry as I searched through file after file as to what to do but I found nothing; nothing in my main computer had any useful information that could spare my life.

"I didn't think you were capable of crying." He said as I felt his hands gently roll me onto my back. Pain was slowly starting to fade as a time limit flashed before my eyes; did Dr. Gero really have to add a feature to show me just how long I had before I would shut down?

I looked up at the sky above, the stars were beaming their gentle light down as I felt myself growing calm…and still. The sky had never looked more vibrant as it did at this very moment.

"Beautiful…" I whispered.

"Yeah…you are." I allowed my eyes to fall upon the young man who was still by my side. His hardened features had relaxed, his blonde hair had gently returned to lavender as his gaze remained on me, unwavering even in the slightest.

"I'm…shutting d-down…" I whispered as I felt my heart struggling to beat; it was sluggish, almost trying to catch up with a normal rhythm without any luck.

"I know…I thought I'd be happier to see this moment…but now that I'm here; I almost feel guilty." He said. I released a breath; Trunks Briefs had been and forever will be one of the kindest souls I've ever come across. All that power, but kept grounded by humility and honor towards doing the right thing…he was my polar opposite. Everything I could have been if things had been different.

I gazed upon him as if I had never had been given the chance; he was so handsome. Even the lines starting to appear upon his face from nights spent awake worrying and dwelling on those no longer by his side made him appear like a handsome man under the moonlight. I had caused him unforgivable anguish and despair and yet here he sat beside me in my final hour. A lot could be said about the type of person it takes to remain by your enemy's side as they near death; and that still wouldn't be sufficient to explain the type of person Trunks had grown to be.

I was envious of how good he was and how truly heroic he had always been in the face of a threat.

I raised my hand and gently grazed his cheek; his skin was so soft under my fingertips. I watched as his eyes widened at my gesture but I didn't care; I would be lying if I said I had never wanted to feel his skin against my own.

I felt the warmth of his hand lay upon my hand still lingering upon his cheek. I felt so very human laying here under the stars tonight. I was taught to fight off any remnants of my humanity but the moment death laid its eager gaze upon me I felt myself allowing my humanity to take the reigns. Was this how I felt before I walked into Dr. Gero's lab, never to return again? Was this who I used to be?

"I'm…sorry…I let my humanity…get taken from me." I said as I focused on the warmth of his hand. I felt his hand fall from mine; I found myself missing his touch until I watched as his hand began to tuck my hair behind my ears with ease before wiping away the dried blood adorning my every feature.

Moments of silence passed as I found myself no longer aware of my countdown; the only thing my mind could see was Trunks carefully cleaning the evidence of our fight from my face.

"I…could take you to my mother. Get you repaired…" He said hesitantly; I could hear in his voice he wasn't quite sure of the situation we were both in at the moment. I don't think either of us had ever seen in each other in the light being cast by this monumental day.

"You could…but you won't. I won't let you…" I said trying my best not to entertain the idea of being repaired and spending my life making up for all the wrong I had done…with Trunks by my side. A new life was so attractive in my eyes given my current situation; Trunks saving me was such a powerful thought, my feelings stirred at the thought but I knew that was not what was meant to happen.

The calm coming over me, the numb disappearance of pain was a sign…this was going to happen and this might very well be the day I earn my freedom.

"What a day…" he finally spoke while looking away into the distance. I smiled at the statement; it was quite a sudden turn of events. Who we were at this very moment, I'd like to think, was who we were meant to be. In another life; I would have loved this boy. I would have fallen so deeply in love with him and I would have been completely and undoubtedly happy.

I allowed my focus to shift to the countdown to the shut down process; 30 seconds. I didn't have long; but how much time would really be long enough? I felt my heart slowly stop thumping as my breathing came to a sudden stop. My eyes, dried from tears of fear, confusion and finally acceptance…were fixed upon the stars above as I felt Trunks' hands try and shake me back to life. His words grew muffled to my senses as I blissfully passed into sweet, forgiving freedom.


End file.
